The Car was one of the first horror movies I ever saw. My parents thought it was just another 70’s chase movie and they let me rent it. This was around 1982 as video rentals were becoming all the craze. Of course I had to watch this movie with some friends during a sleepover, late at night with the lights out.
Fortunately, it’s not a particularly good movie.
It is however a great car-based horror movie. Lots of people get crunched by the evil car including a lady who was inside a house – which is COOL! I think I watched it four times in a row that evening. If for no other reason than to see James Brolin cry like a girl in the middle of the movie.
As a kid, I thought The Car looked cool. Not just the grainy photography, but the vehicle itself. The vehicle used in The Car was based on a ’71 Lincoln Continental Mark III. George Barris, the guy who designed the 1960’s Batmobile among others, designed the all black devil-car. When you’re 12 years-old – it’s bitchin’ when you’re an adult it’s laughable.
Still, there’s something about it that’s cool.
Despite the poor acting and silly plot, there is something about The Car that makes me giddy for Halloween – every time I watch it. If you follow The Car with a chaser of something truly disturbing, like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original), your movie watchers are in for a great time. I tried that once and it was a perfect combination of goofy, spooky fun and all-out horror.
Nice.
Cool fact: Anton LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan, had his quote “Oh great brothers of the night who rideth upon the hot winds of hell, who dwelleth in the Devil’s lair; move and appear,” at the film’s opening.
I think he was related to me too….
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